The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture

Hard to tell which side of the fence these seasoned advertising men/authors are on. They swiftly march us right through all kinds of advertising methods/styles (otherwise now known as "persuasion"), some we're familiar with, some not. -From traditional ads on TV/radio and in print...to the often-overlooked marketing schemes of brainy MBAs on the Internet and everything in-between. On the one hand, from slickly-worded, computerized tv ads and tattoo-on-forehead gimmicks to the posters, billboards, potty room ads and the loud sales pitches on the radio, they say that most ads do "work"...yet, on the other, they claim that to be successful, all things advertising must be updated, hi-teched, repackaged and refocused for "today." ~But don't they already work? ~It gets a little confusing. Though they clearly see a need for and welcome the new kind of "persuasion" (guerilla, telemarketing, internet, viral, smell [!], etc.), at the same time, O'Reilly and/or Tennant take pride in the ability of (traditional, hi-rent) 30-second TV-commercials to do their jobs during each and every Super Bowl.... O. and T. regularly revise their point of view. Our able authors reveal clever stealth marketing practices behind all kinds of advertising in a witty, easy-to-read style. Some we know about; some we never would have guessed at. Even the book's pages are unusually (but ingeniously) structured with bright, full-page graphic grays here and there amid occasional flurries of eye-catching, mammoth type styles. Too, there are large, boxed sidebars and added explanations on near every page, sometimes amusing, sometimes straight-away. True, the tidbits of extra information give the reading a little more depth...only it's hard to decide exactly when to take-in these short inserts as you're breezing down the page. They tend to suspend the smooth word flow. ~Maybe not unlike the annoying, interruptive commercial blocks propelled at us during any TV comedy show. They've thrown in a good bit of advertising and media history, often providing short notes on ad agencies and creatives the authors are or were familiar with. Included, too, are quick looks at past pitches from (among numerous others) Joe DiMaggio, Clara Peller, Captain Crunch, Lee Iacocca, Howdy Doody, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Who can forget the Jolly Green Giant and Snap, Crackle and Pop? It's all part of the wide-spread ad-story in this engrossing book. More like a conversation in print, here's no profound academic work here...though it might be useful to include it on the class textbook list. It's quick with nothing that's over our heads, professional or otherwise. "How Advertising Ate Our Culture," as the title sub-head touts, is spot on. The authors clearly show how advertising's engulfed us all, and they describe a bounty about it on every page. ~But something's missing. Amid the authors' celebration of the power of advertising and marketing, they never get to telling us "How" we let ourselves get

When I found this book, I was looking for something about advertising that wouldn't try to sell me tactics or fads. I've read enough of those, and am frankly burned out on the sheer volume of books arguing the best ways to write a headline or how to make trillions using Twitter and a Facebook profile. I hit the jackpot with The Age of Persuasion. It's informative without being boring, and tells you thinks you probably don't already know and didn't know you'd even care to know. Things like how marketing spurred the development of television programming, how "yoots" are the most powerful social force on the planet, or how billboards became so popular (and so unpopular as well). It talks about marketing through the ages, and how marketing shaped every type of media while each one was still in its infancy. It doesn't rant against marketing nor does it try to sell you the idea that marketing will save the world. It just tells you fun things about it and changes your perspective of the world around you without the use of sales tactics. Now there's an interesting marketing idea in itself... So if you are in a marketing profession, are an anti-marketing activist, or just want to learn about marketing without becoming so bored you wish your eyes would be pecked out by Toucan Sam, then this is the book for you.